Apparatus for gauging dishes



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[am/11 G Aazr Patented Oct. 5, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS ron GAUGING DISHES- Eugene G. Arelt, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Onondaga Pottery Company, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 30, 1950, Serial No. 182,298

7 Claims. 1

This invention has to do with apparatus for gauging or testing articles of pottery ware, and more particularly for determining the height at a multiplicity of points on the brim of a dish, such as a plate, above the plane of the foot of the dish.

During the drying and shrinking of articles of pottery ware on absorbent moulds, the article often warps or draws out of shape. This is caused by many factors known to those skilled in the art of making articles of tableware. If the defective dish is not detected in the air dried or green stage, and is further processed by being fired in the kiln and then rejected, the loss through the additional handling and processing is appreciable. If the defective piece is fired in the kiln, it is then a total loss and has to be thrown out. On the other hand, if the defective piece is detected while in the green or unfired state, the clay material can be reworked. Preparatory to being fired, the dishes are arranged in a stack and the spaces between the brim portions of the dishes are filled with a suitable granular material. This material serves to support the pieces of ware which become soft and pliable at the high firing temperature. Accordingly, a piece of warped ware often prevents proper packing of the granular material, with the result another dish will not be properly supported during the firing operation and it too will become warped.

For these and other reasons, it therefore becomes of great value to be able to detect warped or crooked ware in the green or unfired stage, and to discard the defective pieces.

At the present time, visual inspection of the ware is relied upon and is usually done after the ware is piled or stacked up preparatory to placing it in the kiln for firing. With this procedure, there always exists the failure of the human factor and it is quite impossible to establish any uniform degree of variation from the perfect piece of ware inasmuch as the visual determination varies from operator to operator and, in fact, varies with the same operator from time to time. In the event the operator reaches the conclusion that a piece of ware is warped to the extent that it is defective, it is necessary to unpile the ware and repile it again. A piece of ware may not have any warpage but yet be defective. For example, the brim of the dish may be straight but too high above the foot, or too close to the foot, of the piece of ware. These differences in the height of the brim from the normal are caused from uneven moisture content in the piece of ware as it is formed, or uneven drying on the mould.

This invention has an object an apparatus for automatically gauging the rim of a piece of ware in respect to the height of the rim above the foot of the piece, and embodies a particularly inexpensive structure, extremely sensitive in operation and particularly adapted for gauging the green or unfired fragile ware which has an extremely low tensile strength.

The invention has as a further object an apparatus of the type referred to embodying mechanism which operates automatically to eject articles of predetermined departure from rim straightness and/or height. The apparatus further embodies a structural arrangement whereby it may be quickly and conveniently adjusted for gauging pottery ware articles of different dimensions and for adjusting or varying the tolerances within which the piece of ware must come in order to be accepted as a satisfactory piece of ware.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a ware testing apparatus embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus.

Figure 3 is a view taken on line 33, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the gauging head with the right portion thereof in vertical section and with parts broken away in the left portion.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a warped dish illustrating diagrammatically the position of various feeling fingers engaging the dish.

Figure 6 is a view taken on line 66, Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on line l1, Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a view taken on line 8-8 Figure 4.

Figure 9 is a view taken on line 99, Figure 1.

Figure 10 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical circuit embodied in the apparatus.

Figure 11 is a top plan view of the ware ejector arm moving a piece of defective ware from the I ware support.

the lower plate being mounted on casters It to make the apparatus readily portable. There are a plurality of depending members It threaded to receive leveling screws 55 which serve to elevate the machine off the casters 3 and to provide a convenient means for leveling the machine. The dishes, or pieces of ware indicated at :6, are successively moved into registration with a gauging head indicated generally at H by a ware advancing means or conveyor here shown as a turret l8 having a plurality of dish supporting members l9 carried on arms 20.

The turret is mounted upon the upper end of a shaft 22 journalled vertically in the plates E0, I, and which is intermittently indexed by a Geneva disk 23 fixedly secured to the shaft 22. The slots 24 of the Geneva disk are engaged by a roller 25 carrier on a crank arm 25 mounted on a shaft 21, the upper end of which is journalled in the upper plate Ill, and the lower end is connected to the output shaft 28 of a gear reduction 30 mounted on the bottom plate The gear reduction 3D is operatively connected to a driving motor 3| through a suitable belt 32. The gauging head, Figure 4, is suspended from a supporting plate 40 mounted on a boxlike structure 4| fixed to one corner of the top plate Hi. This head includes an annular series of feeler fingers 44, each of which is fixed to the lower end of a stem 45 slidably mounted in plates 55, 41. These plates are secured together in spaced relation by spacing posts 48 and screws Q9. The plates are fixed to the hub portion 55 of a sleeve The sleeve 5| is slidably mounted in a collar 52 secured to the supporting plate 40, as by screws 53.

Each of the stems 45 is provided with a radially extending contact 54 having an extension in the form of a pin 55 slidably mounted in a slotted stud 55 secured to the bottom plate 41. This arrangement serves to prevent rotation of the stems 45 while permitting individual vertical movement of the stems and the fingers 44 carried thereby. The fingers All are formed of light material, such as aluminum, and the stems d5 of small diameter so that each finger assembly is very light in weight and freely movable vertically whereby engagement of the fingers with or by the brim of a piece of green fragile ware will not injure the ware. An annular contact 51 is secured to the bottom plate 41, as by screws 58, and is insulated from the plate. Normally, the contacts 54 carried by the stems 45 rest upon the annular contact 51.

When the stems and contacts 5:3 are moved upwardly a predetermined distance, they engage an upper annular contact 59 which is positioned upon a circumferential flange 5 formed on the periphery of a disk 6| formed of insulating material. The contact 58 is not amxed to the disk 6|, but is permitted to freely move upwardly off from the fiange 60, this upward movement being limited by a washer 52 affixed to the top surface of the disk by screws 53 and overhanging the flange 60. The annular contact 59 is also formed of light weight electrical conducting material, such as aluminum, so when it is engaged by one or more of the contacts 54, it will not offer resistance to further upward movement of the finger sufficient to break the piece of ware.

The disk 55 is affixed to the lower end of a shaft 64, as by screws 65. The shaft 65 is slidably mounted in the sleeve 5|. The sleeve 5| is externally threaded at its upper end to receive an adjusting nut 65 engaging the upper edge of the collar 52. The sleeve 5| is yieldingly urged down- 4 wardly by a compression coil spring 66 interposed between the flange 50 of the sleeve and the mounting flange of the collar 52, see Figure 4. With this arrangement, the plates 46, 41, may be adjusted vertically relative to the plates 40 and IE3.

The upper end of the shaft 64 terminates short of the upper end of the sleeve 5| and is provided with an internally threaded bore to receive an adjusting screw 61 journalled in a disk 68 alfixed to the upper end of the sleeve 5|, as by screws 69. The upper end of the screw 61 is provided with a knurled knob 10 for rotating the screw, and the screw carries a conventional friction driven graduated collar 1|. The shaft 6-; is yieldingly urged downwardly by a coil compression spring 12. With this structural arrangement, the shaft 54 is adjusted vertically relative to the sleeve 5| by manipulation of the screw 61, the graduated collar 1i permitting a micrometer or precision adjustment.

To aid in the precise adjustment of the plates 46, G1, a conventional dial indicator 15 is mounted upon the supporting plate 45 with its actuating stem 16 engaging a screw 11 adjustably mounted in the plate 46. The contact structure is enclosed by a band 18 positioned in confronting recesses formed in the periphery of the plates 45, 31. The band is clamped in place by screws 19.

The dish supports l9 are successively moved in registration with the annular series of gauging fingers M, as previously stated. During the indexing movement, the supports |9 are positioned so that the dishes, indicated at 5, carried thereby are moved in a plane somewhat below the fingers 44 when they are in their down position, or with their contacts 54 engaging the contact 51. When the supports l9 are moved in registration with the gauging head, the shaft 22 is elevated a predetermined distance. The gauging head proper is adjusted by the nut 55 so that the brim of the dish elevated by the turret will engage the fingers M and more them upwardly, moving their contacts E i out of engagement with the contact 51.

If there is a point on the brim of the dish sufficiently below the normal plane of the brim so that one or more of the fingers 44 are not engaged and therefore the associated contacts 54 are not separated from contact 51, a visual signal will be given to the operator and that defective piece of ware will be ejected.

On the other hand, if the dish has a point in the brim engaging a finger and moving it upwardly sufficiently to engage the upper contact 59, such engagement will complete another circuit and give a different visual signal to the operator, and the defective piece of were will be ejected.

In other words, the head proper is initially adjusted by the nut 65, so that the brim of a particular dish, which is straight or parallel with the foot of the disk, and at the proper height therefrom, will move all of the fingers 44 upwardly a sufficient distance to separate the contacts 54, 51. The shaft 64 is adjusted to determine the position of the upper contact 59 and accordingly the distance to he traveled by the contacts 54 for engagement with the contact 59. Accordingly, the apparatus gauges the entire circumference of the brim of the dish for points thereof which are either below or above a plane parallel with the foot of the dish and a predetermined distance therefrom, and the tolerance, which is allowable, is determined by the adjustment of the head proper and the disk 6 The shaft 22 is elevated when each of the disk supports I9 are moved in registration with the gauging head by the structure shown in Figures 6 and '1.

A cam 80 is mounted on the lower end of the shaft 28 by being adjustably secured by screws 8| to a collar 82 keyed to the shaft. This cam engages a roller 83 journalled on the upper end of a bell crank lever pivoted at 84 in a bracket 85 depending from the bottom plate I I. This lever has a laterally extending arm portion 86 provided with an adjusting screw 81 engaging the head of a screw 88 mounted in the lower end of the turret shaft 22. The cam 80 is effective to move the bell crank lever in a clockwise direction about the pivot 84 against a coil tension spring 90 connected to the plate II and the outer end of the arm 86. The low portion of the cam 80 permits the spring 90 to oscillate the lever in a counter-clockwise direction and to effect upward movement of the shaft 22, as illustrated in Figures 6 and '1. The cam 80 is so formed and positioned on the shaft 28 to effect upward movement of the shaft 22 while the crank roller 25 is out of engagement with the slots 24 of the Geneva disk 23 as will be apparent. Upon upward movement of the shaft 21, one of the slots 24 engages a stationary detent 9| mounted on a vertically extending bar 92. The ends of this bar are secured to the upper and lower plates I0, I I, by angle pieces 93. This detent arrangement serves to prevent any rotative movement of the turret during the vertical movement thereof.

The apparatus includes electrically operated means for giving a visual signal to the operator in the event there is a point in the brim of the disk being gauged located a predetermined distance above or below the plane in which the brim of the dish would extend if parallel to the foot of the piece of ware and a normal distance therefrom. If the brim of the dish is distorted so as to raise one of the fingers 44 upwardly to bring its contact 54 into engagement with the contact 59, a circuit is completed to a signal lamp I00.

Referring to the schematic wiring diagram Figure 10, wires IOI, I02, designate the feed line for the apparatus. A transformer I03 is connected across this line. One side of the secondary coil of the transformer is connected to the movable contact 54 through wire I04 and normally open switch I05. The switch I05 is periodically closed by a cam I06 mounted on the shaft 21. Engagement of the contact 54 with contact 59 extends this circuit to the coil I01 of a relay, the opposite side of the coil being connected to the other side of the secondary of transformer I03, through wire I09. The signal lamp I is connected to the supply wire IOI through wire I I0, and to a fixed contact III of the relay. The contact III is engaged by the movable contact I I2 which is connected to the other side I02 of the line through wire II3. Thus, a signal is given to the operator indicating that the brim of the dish is distorted sufficiently with a high spot exceeding the allowed tolerance.

In like manner, a low spot in the brim of the dish exceeding the allowed tolerance Will cause contact 54 to remain in engagement with contact 51 which, through wire H4, is connected, to the wire I09 by wire H6. A second lamp H1 is connected to the line IIiI by wire II8 through contacts II9, I20, of the relay, and to the line I02 through wire I2I.

A counter I22 is energized simultaneously with the lamp I00 through wires I23, I24, contacts I25,

I26, and wire I I3 to the other side of the line I02.

Inasmuch as the counter I22 is thus energized through the relay I01, it is apparent that it serves to record the number of pieces that have portions in their rims exceeding the normal height from the foot of the piece. There is a similar counter I21 controlled partially by the relay I I5 and partially by other means, hereinafter described, for recording the number of pieces of ware which have points in their brims below the normal.

The cam I06 is positioned on the shaft 21 so as to energize the contact 54 for at least a portion of the time the dish supports I9 are in elevated position.

The pieces of ware are placed upon the supports I9 as each support is indexed to position A, Figure 2. At this station, there is a substantially V shaped positioning guide member I30 carried by a bracket I3I attached to the plate 40 for adjustment toward and from the axis of the gauging head, the bracket being secured in adjusted position by thumb screw I32. The positioning guide I30 is attached to the bracket I3I by a screw I33 to permit vertical adjustment of the guide piece. The purpose of the guide piece I30 is to properly center the pieces of ware on the supports I9 so that the pieces of ware will properly engage the gauging fingers 44.

The turret is indexed to position B with the piece of ware in registration with the gauging head and after the dish has been gauged, it is moved to position C where if the defect or warpage in the piece of ware exceeds the predetermined tolerances, the piece is ejected from the support I9. If the piece of ware gauges satisfactory, it is indexed to position D where it is removed by the operator.

The defective pieces of ware are ejected at station C by movement of an arm I35 attached at one end to a shaft I31 J'ournalled vertically in a suitable bearing structure carried by the plate I0. A bell crank lever having arms I33, I39, Figure 3, is fixedly secured to the lower end of the shaft I31 below the plate I 0. The arm I38 has pivotally connected to it an arm I40 formed at its opposite end with a yoke structure I 4I slidably mounted upon the cam shaft 21. The arm I40 has a roller I42 arranged to be engaged by a cam I43 mounted near the upper end of the cam shaft 21, see Figures 1 and 3. The arm I40 is yieldingly urged toward the cam shaft 21 by a coil tension spring I45 fixed at the pivot point of the arm and at its opposite end to a pin I 45 depending from the plate II).

The arm I39 is notched at its outer end to receive a latch member I41 and which is pivotally mounted at I48 intermediate its ends and is urged into latching engagement with the arm I39 by tension spring I49. The latch is moved out of latching relation by a solenoid I50.

Referring to Figures 2, l1, l2 and 13, the arm I35 is of such length that its free end will move over a dish support I9 at station C. A U shaped bracket I55 is mounted on the free end of the arm, as by screws I 55. A member I51 is mounted for pivotal movement between the legs of the bracket I55 on pivot screws I58. The member I51 has a pair of spaced apart pins I59 depending therefrom for engagement with the piece of ware I5 positioned on the support i9. The pivotal movement of the member I51 is limited in a clockwise direction, Figure 12, by an adjusting screw I60 threaded into the member, and in the opposite direction by a similar screw IfiI threaded into the bracket I55.

If during the gauging of a piece of ware the height above the plane of the foot of any contacted portion of the brim departs from the standard more than the allowable tolerance, the solenoid I50 is energized, withdrawing the latch I41 from the arm I39. The circuit to the solenoid I50 is through wire I65, switch I66, wire I61, solenoid I50, and if relay I01 is closed, through wire I68, contacts I69, I10, wire II3, to wire I02. If relay II5 is closed, the circuit is from the solenoid I50, through wire I1I, contacts I12, I13, wire I2I, to wire I02. The switch I66 is periodically closed by a cam I mounted on the cam shaft 21. This switch is closed during a portion of the time the turret is at rest in elevated position. In order that this circuit will be completed after the gauged piece of ware has been moved from position B to position C, the relays I01, II5, are provided with means for holding them closed. As shown in the schematic diagram, Figure 10, a latch I15 is urged beneath a member I16 movable with the contact H2, I26 and I10, this latching being effected by spring I11.

In like manner, a latch I80 is provided for relay I15. The latches I15, I80, are withdrawn from latching position by solenoid coils I8I, I82, respectively. These solenoid coils I8I, I82, are connected in parallel arrangement through a switch I83 which is periodically closed by a cam I84 also mounted on shaft 21.

The cam arrangement is such that cam I84 will close switch I83 establishing a circuit through wires I65, I89, solenoids I8I, I82, wires I86, I81, to the return wire I09, shortly after the completion of the indexing movement. In other words, the relays I01, II5, are closed by contacts 54, 51, 59 and remain closed until after the gauged piece has been indexed to position C. It will be apparent that this is only in the event of the piece of ware being defective. With either relay I01, II5, closed, cam I13 will close switch I66, thus energizing the solenoid I50, releasing the arm I30 and at this time cam I43 is in the position shown in Figure 3, whereupon the spring I45 will actuate the arm I40 and accordingly effect a counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft I31, Figures 2 and 3, causing the arm I36 to sweep over the support I9 and cause the depending members I59 to engage the dish and eject it from the support. A suitable waste receptacle, not shown, is provided for receiving the ejected pieces of green ware. When the depending members I59 engage the piece of ware, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, the member I51 is caused to rock on the pivots I58, effecting actuation of a switch I90 mounted on the bracket I55. This switch energizes the counter I21 through wires I 92, I93, contacts I28, I29, if relay H5 is closed, and wire I2I to wire I82. That is, the counter I21 records the number of pieces of ware found defective in that they had one or more portions in their brims below the required standard. The purpose of having this counter under the control of the switch I90, as well as the relay H5, is because the relay II5 may become energized due to the fact that the entire brim of the piece of ware is suificiently below the required standard as not to engage any of the fingers 44. However, this situation might arise by the particular support I9 not having any dish placed upon it, in which event if the counter were controlled solely by the relay I I5, it would give an inaccurate count. In other words, a dish having a low brim is counted by actuation of the switch I90 in the ejecting operation. If there is no dish to be ejected, the counter I21 is not energized.

In the schematic wiring diagram Figure 10,

various manual switches in different parts of the electrical circuit have been omitted for simplification. Such switches are desirable, as will be apparent, for adjusting and setting up the apparatus initially.

The gauging apparatus described functions very eificiently to gauge pieces of green unfired ware, which is very fragile, without damaging the ware, and the operation of this apparatus results in the production of uniform straight ware conforming to close tolerances. The apparatus further efiects great saving in the cost of processing pieces of ware which later are rejected because of defects not discovered in the early stages of manufacture. It also effects saving of clay material in that the defective ware is discovered at a stage when the material can be reworked. It is obvious that the apparatus can also be used to gauge fired or finished ware and, when so used, serves to indicate defects, if any, resulting from the firing or finishing process.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for gauging the height and straightness of the brim of a dish comprising a gauging head having upper and lower annular contacts spaced apart axially, an annular series of movable contacts normally positioned on said lower contact, a feeler depending from each movable contact, said feelers being independently mounted for free vertical movement in said head, a dish support for supporting a dish with the foot thereof positioned a predetermined distance below said lower contact and with the brim of the dish engaging said feeler members, a signal circuit including a signal, said feeler contacts and said lower contact, a second signal circuit including a second signal, said feeler contacts and said upper contact, and means for adjusting said upper contact toward and from said lower contact.

2. Apparatus for gauging dishes for brim height and straightness comprising means for advancing a procession of dishes and successively presenting the same to a gauging head, upper and lower annular contacts mounted in said head, means operable to effect relative axial movement between said contacts to vary the space therebetween, an annular series of feelers depending from said head, a contact connected to each feeler and normally positioned on said lower contact, said feelers being mounted in the head for free independent vertical movement and being operable upon such vertical movement to move the contacts carried thereby into engagement with said upper contact, said feelers being elevated by presentation of a dish to said head and having a brim of predetermined height and straightness to position said feeler contacts intermediate said upper and lower contacts.

3. Apparatus for gauging the height and straightness of the brim of a dish comprising a dish support, a gauging head mounted above said support, an annular lower contact fixedly mounted in said head, an upper annular contact arranged in register with said lower contact, means operable to adjust said upper contact toward and from said lower contact, an annular series of feelers depending from said head, each of said feelers being mounted in the head for free vertical movement and carrying a contact normally positioned on said lower annular contact, actuating means operable to efiect relative vertical movement between said support and said head to effect engagement of a dish brim of predetermined height and straightness with said feelers, and to move said feeler contacts intermediate said upper and lower annular contacts.

4. Apparatus for gauging the height of the brim of a dish above the foot thereof comprising a gauging head having an annular series of feeler members depending therefrom and normally arranged in a common plane, a dish support for supporting a dish with the foot of the dish positioned a predetermined distance below the normal plane of said feelers, each of said feelers being independently mounted for free vertical movement by the brim of the dish, a contact connected to and movable with each feeler, a lower annular contact mounted in said head and common to all of said feeler contacts and engaged thereby when said feelers ar in normal position, an upper annular contact mounted in said head and spaced a predetermined distance above said lower contact and being also common to all of said feeler contacts, a signal circuit including said feeler contacts and said lower contact, a second signal circuit including said feeler contacts and said upper contact, means operable to effect vertical adjustment of said gauging head toward and from said dish support, and means operable to effect vertical adjustment of said upper contact toward and from said lower contact.

5. Apparatus for determining the height and straightness of the brims of dishes advanced in a procession comprising a frame, a shaft journalled vertically in the frame, a turret having a circular series of dish supports mounted on said shaft, a gauging head mounted on the frame above the path traveled by said dish supports, said head including an annular series of feelers depending therefrom and mounted for free individual vertical movement, a signal circuit including a lower annular contact and a second signal circuit including an upper annular contact, a contact carried by each of said feelers and being movable into and out of engagement with said upper and lower contacts respectively upon vertical movement of each feeler, indexing means operable to index said turret and bring said dish supports successively in registration with said gauging head, turret elevating means operable to efiect elevation of said turret to move the brim of a, dish carried on said supports into engagement with said feelers, and switch means operable to energize all of said feeler contacts simultaneously upon elevation of the turret.

6. Apparatus for determining the height and brim straightness of a dish comprising a frame, a gauging head housing mounted on the frame,

means for adjusting said head vertically, a lower annular contact fixedly mounted in the housing, an upper annular contact mounted in the housing in registration with said lower contact, and means for adjusting said upper contact toward and from said lower contact, an annular series of feelers depending from the housing and mounted therein for free independent vertical movement, a contact carried by each of said feelers and positioned intermediate said upper and lower annular contacts and being movable into and out of engagement therewith upon vertical movement of said feelers, a plurality of dish supports operable to advance a procession of dishes in a plane below said head and present the dishes successively in registration therewith, means operable to elevate said supports to move a dish mounted thereon into engagement with said feelers, a signal circuit including said upper contact, and a signal circuit including said lower contact, and switch means operable upon elevation of said supports to energize all of said feeler contacts.

7. Apparatus for gauging dishes for brim height and straightness comprising means for advancing a procession of dishes and successively presenting the same to a gauging head, a lower annular contact mounted in said head, a contact support mounted in the head above said lower contact, an upper annular contact positioned on said contact support, an annular series of feelers depending from said head for engagement with the rim of a dish, a contact connected to each feeler and normally positioned on said lower contact, said feelers being mounted in the head for free independent vertical movement and bein operable upon such vertical movement to move the contacts carried thereby into engagement with said upper contact, said upper annular contact being mounted for free vertical movement upon engagement by any one of said feeler contacts, and means for adjusting said upper contact support toward and from said lower contact.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,442,233 Norton Jan. 16, 1923 1,682,464 Arelt Aug. 28, 1928 2,018,399 Engst Oct. 22, 1935 2,177,051 Birmingham Oct. 24, 1939 2,321,191 Elmendorf June 8, 1943 2,373,989 Wurger Apr. 17, 1945 2,487,628 Aller Nov. 8, 1949 2,563,216 Dale Aug. 7, 1951 

